Beyond The Veil
by PhantomDynasty
Summary: Tiny shard of glass erupted into the atmosphere, blood poured out, his eyes were black, empty and merciless. The soul of Alec Lightwood, selfless, brave and caring Shadowhunter, sank deeper and deeper into the bottomless abyss, with no refuge. He fell, no one could catch him, no one to tell him to carry on moving forward. Then the fearless, strong yet fragile girl entered his life.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: CC owns everything! Well, apart from the plot , the character I made up( hint, hint) and the odd few things here and there. Please review and do let me know if there are any grammatical errors, punctuation etc! Thank you lovelies!

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Magnus could no longer take it. How many times would this happen to him? Forever was a long time, indeed, he had learned much for his age, though there was one thing that still seemed to intrigue him. Love. The warlock suffered many emotions in his time, guilt, joy, grief, depression, all for which he took along with him over the years, he understood them all. They would attack you at the most vulnerable times, when you were a clean slate, fresh, rejuvenated. It was terrible, being able to feel these feelings, to bear them as time passed. Fashion and alcohol always seemed to deprive the glittery man of his thoughts. Never had he not turned to the two key components in his life. This time was different. It was when the blue-eyed angel crashed his party did he notice that these two things would not be able to deprive him of love.

He knew he was taking a risk from the beginning. Why Magnus took it, even he did not understand himself. Magnus was susceptible to beauty. There was so much beauty in the world, and when Magnus tried to grasp it, it would escape him, creating another crack in the thin glass of his heart. Magnus had thought that his time would be different, how wrong he was. The boy was radiant, shining in all his glory. He was the dark star to the golden boy's supernova, no, Alec was more than that. Blue eyes shimmered, whirlwinds which you'd be lost in for a thousand years, just to figure out the emotion behind them. Tall, and sculpted, not even Adonis himself could compare to him; Magnus could run his hands over those muscles every day, enjoying the electricity that pulsed through his veins when he did. Adorableness was written on his face, the pink hue that would make its appearance on Alec's cheeks, would add permanent colour to Magnus' demon soul. Magnus was always left begging for more, when those buttery petals left his own.

Those lips were not his to have any more.

The deed had to be done. No more betrayals, lies and fake forgiveness. The secrets that Alec tried to hide were not hidden any more. This always happened to Magnus. Love, lies and heartbreak. Each time Magnus never understood why such things happened to him. Yes, he was a demon's spawn, but even the coldest demons had some kind of emotion inside of them. To add to that, Magnus was half demon, half mundane. Meaning Magnus would feel the same way mundanes could. Sometimes Magnus wished he was a full demon, as his father was, then he wouldn't have to feel the pain he felt at that moment.

Walking through the portal, Magnus decided on how he should do it. He didn't want to regret the consequences, and he didn't want to suffer any longer either. Then Magnus understood. No emotion would be shown; expressionless and formal is how it would be done. Alec had left his apartment in the morning, giving a worthless excuse to Magnus. Of course, Magnus knew that it was not the truth, a few months with the angel allowed you to notice the little differences in the person. He had not lied fully though. Alec left early for training, when he'd returned he had taken a shower before cuddling up to the warlock for two hours of peace. That was when that damned phone call interrupted their sweet activities, Alec, grabbing his weapons belt had made a quick goodbye. He did not return, but he knew Alec was not lost in the universe.

A rune was drawn across the two lover's arms. One that Clary, the red-headed shadow hunter whose abilities still seemed to shock Magnus to the day, had made for the two. Unity, it had described the lovers perfectly at that time. Black intricate lines curved their dominant hands from the top inner part of their palms to just underneath their wrists. The matrix of meaning, Magnus felt pain in his heart when he thought about the betrayal; the rune would not be so much with lies. Magnus would no longer see the light, without this boy, he would land back into the infinitesimal darkness.

The portal cackled and disappeared behind him, and Magnus knew there was no returning after this. This was it. He tightened his grip on the blue scarf that was in his coat pocket, the scarf he had brought for Alec, the blue made Alec's eyes stand out even more, and it reminded him of Alec every time he saw it. Lighting up, his rune shone white, he knew he was getting close to the boy. In the distance he saw a boy with raven, ebony hair, it blew in the wind, feathering the boy's porcelain skin. Magnus wanted to stroke his cheeks, but he knew he couldn't. When Magnus stepped silently close, he saw mud and ichor all over the shadow hunters gear. His bow was hanging of his shoulders, the arrow in place, on target, it didn't quiver or reach its destination, and Alec just held it there, string pulled between his fingers. His shadow hunter was deep into thought, so deep that he didn't notice Magnus in front of him, it was only when Magnus had clicked his fingers in front of Alec's face, and did he notice Magnus's presence. Alec's hand snapped, the arrow went soaring through the wind and encrusted itself neatly into the tree, nicking the warlock by a millimetre.

Alec tilted his head up a little to look into the warlocks cat-like eyes. Magnus retuned his gaze, calm and collected. There was an awkward silence that engulfed them both, and Alec was the first to break it.

"Hey. I was just about to come over-" Alec was interrupted as soon as he started.

"When were you planning on telling me?" Magnus's voice was devoid of any emotion, Alec felt his heart shudder slightly. He put on a face of confusion, because well, he did not know what his lover was talking about.

"Don't play dumb Alexander." Magnus answered harshly, he didn't intend to do it, and he felt guilty, as Alec visibly shivered. Alec didn't answer and an ounce of rage grew inside of Magnus.

"Playing Blind Man's Bluff are we?" Magnus asked, angry and sarcastic. Alec's face grew even more confused. Of course, Shadow hunters did not know, or rather did not much care to understand the culture of mundanes.

"I noticed that you were seeing my ex behind my back." Magnus went on. Realization spread on Alec's features and he turned his gaze on everything apart from Magnus. Irritated, Magnus took Alec's chin in his hand, forcing the boy to look at him, his eyes questioned Alec.

"Yes... I have been seeing Camille." Alec knew there was no use in lying any more.

"To get rid of my immortality." Magnus stated. Alec blanched, his glassy eyes widening.

"No-" Alec began, there was no use, as his sentence was cut off once again.

"Lies. Alexander, if you did had a problem with this relationship, you should've told me in the beginning."

"I didn't. I just needed answers" Alec clarified, Magnus did not stir against his own argument.

"Please, why would you go to Camille, _of all people_, for answers?"

"Because you weren't giving me any."

"Maybe it's not your place to invade my privacy, and you going to a third party is making me believe that you truly do detest this, what we have." Magnus spoke with such coldness, that Alec never felt so scared in his life. Alec tried to contradict the older man, he did not make much progress, the gold-green eyes pierced through his own, making him feel so small in himself. This was the end, Alec thought, Magnus was going to end it in the harshest of ways.

He was correct.

"Come by soon to collect your things, and do return my keys, I am no longer your pet warlock-" Magnus said.

"You're not our _pet warlock!_" Alec's voice was raised, just by a tad bit, Magnus carried on as if he hadn't spoken in the first place.

"I am glad to have made your stay worthwhile, frankly, I couldn't say the same for myself, greetings to you shadow hunter." Magnus had spoken the biggest lie, yet he did not say anything to prove that it was. Magnus had to do this before he could leave, he removed the blue scarf from his pocket and wrapped it around the boy's cold neck, and said boy's eyes were glassy. And it was when he was walking off, did he hear the boy's voice quiver slightly. He didn't turn around, just stood, frozen, in place.


	2. No Turning Back

Pardon my French, I know next to nothing about it. Thank you guys for pointing out my mistakes. Do let me know if there are any other mistakes, I wont mind it at all!

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Alec spoke the next few words in fluent French, and Magnus understood perfectly. "Pardonne moi por tout ce que j'ai fait ou vais faire . Je n'ai jamais aimé quelqu'un autant que j'ai t'aime toi. Je suis tellement désolé, Magnus." Magnus, held his breath in, not wanting to attract Alec's attention, he was close to running back to the boy. Alec's words echoed in his head, he noted the slight hesitance as Alec said the words, Magnus could not identify the emotion behind the sentence, so he chose to leave it behind him. Like he was doing to Alec, he was another person in Magnus' long list of ex-lovers. He heard the shuffling of leaves, and the crunching of grass. Alec's boot pounded lightly on the ground, and Magnus stood for a second longer, hearing footsteps retreat into the distant.

Magnus was walking back to his own apartment, he did not look back into the distance.

Alec reached the Institute, the only place he was always welcomed to. Sometimes, Alec thought that his parents would one day get so aggravated with his _condition_ and would most likely kick him out of the place. It was wrong to think so coldly of his parents, but nothing they did ever made him think differently. His siblings were most likely asleep, the two were informed that he would return after a while. His and Camille's meeting only lasted half an hour, and yet none of his questions were answered to his expectations. It happened every time he visited the former leader of the Manhattan vampire clan. Inside the institute it was silent; his parents were in Idris to attend the council meetings, as Sebastian, Clary's brother, was still on the loose. He was free, no siblings, no interrogation, Alec walked through the grand, majestic building, relishing the feel of the ancient place that was always comforted him. He preferred to live there instead of in Alicante; most of his memories were in New York anyway. Alec was stood in front of his bedroom door, his territory, and his fort of solitude. With a shuddery breath, he tiptoed inside the room, as if not wanting to note his presence to the shadows of the room. Closing the door, he hovered, close enough to grasp the handle, if harm came his way. The room was vacant, free for usage, as he'd begun to stay overnights at his boyfriend's - ex boyfriends - apartment. Nothing had moved, though, all in structured order, it may have been cleaned a little by his OCD-ridden parabatai, otherwise, not a speck was out of place. Alec lost it after that, standing in the vacant room, he felt the urge to mark it as his own, not a stranger's room. Mark it was what he did.

He turned his back, facing the door and grabbing his stele and placed it against the door, all done in one silk movement. The angelic contraption began moving, forcing swirls and patterns into the thin wooden plank. After the first drawing was finished, Alec moved on to the next, carefully twisting his wrist in concentration, his stele could not fail him. Jerking his hand back, he stared at his drawing, there were two runes indented in the door, the first was a quietude rune, silencing the expanse of walls. The second was a lock rune, locking himself into the room, and blocking the entrance to any unbidden guests. Now Alec felt fully at peace. He gently laid his weapon belt upon the dresser, slowly slipping the silver objects out of their slits, arranging them in an orderly way. All self-control vanished from that second onwards. Pictures were thrown out of cupboards, of walls, jumbling with each other in a pile. Clothing came along with it; stray pieces of cloth were thrown haphazardly around each corner of his room. A rainfall of tears pattered on his ghastly coloured cheeks, Alec did not care about the tangy salt taste erupting explosions in his mouth. He made a beeline for his stele again, this time with more fury and hatred. With his hollow mind he began to trace the ignition rune upon the bundle of photos, flame sparkled and cackled, and amusing angst-ridden eyes. That was when the two images spoke out to him through the fire. He wasn't thinking, his hand coiled into the blaze, he did not care about the blistering splinters that formed at his skin. Fire burned, energy and regret, he let it grow. All Alec cared for were the two, slightly distorted images in his hand. They were memories flowing rapidly back into his minds, again, tears sprang out faster and faster, Alec struggled for breath. A smaller image of himself smiled at him-unaware of the owner's emotions that would trigger. This image was not of Alec, it was of Max. His younger, deceased, brother, whom he missed more than anything in the world. Alec had seemed the most affected by the youngster's death, however, unlike his siblings, he hid his emotions. Only breaking out once to Isabelle in anger, detest for himself. He couldn't save Max, if it were a choice, Alec would've taken the opportunity to stand in Max's shoes, and suffer the deathblow. No one would be affected anyway; there was not one person who truly would've of missed Alec's presence. Not even Magnus, as the warlock had shown Alec exactly what he thought Magnus did. Magnus did not need him, miss him, or suffer from him. Alec spoke his words out into atmosphere, projecting his voice without knowing it was.

A sensor exploded in Alec.

He grabbed his seraph blade. Naming it "_Nakir."_ Then slashing every vulnerable item in sight. The beast inside of him raged, he screamed out in frustration, gripping and tugging at his raven hair. Blades were thrown over to the wall with sheer force, there was no stopping him. Blood flowed out of his blistered hands, burns were red and itchy, and Alec didn't bother with an _iratze. _His final weapon was his beloved bow. The string was pulled back so tight, arrow in place, and they pierced the grey walls.

After a few hours of agony and anger, Alec's head had draped itself onto the blank mattress, the pillow he normally used ripped to shreds. The thin comforter was left underneath him, he had not bothered to change out of his gear, and in his hands lay the two images and his blue scarf, sealed in the safety of Alec's heart.


	3. Diverting Destiny

Over at Magnus apartment, Magnus had not let but a single tear fall. The Chairman circled his legs, meowing an irritating gesture for food. He complied; he would not want his baby to starve because of his emotions. The chairman meowed gratefully, Magnus unconsciously smiled; he loved Chairman more than anything in the world. No, he loved Alec more, but he wouldn't confess that, not after the last hour. There was nothing to it, Magnus turned his thoughts to one thing only, alcohol. Snapping his fingers, conjuring up several bottles of alcohol, he rested himself on the gold couch and watched the Pretty Little Liars marathon.

However, he was not paying much attention to the show, he was remembering all those happy memories of Alec, Alec holding his hand in public; Alec kissing him in front of the Clave; Alec smiling up to him during the mortal war. All times Magnus felt his heart tug with newfound affection; this boy would be the death of him, though, not anymore. Magnus knew that Alec was new to all this love business, so Magnus thought it would be better off not to push the Shadowhunter. Lightwood's confused him very much. They were proud, Magnus was able to see that much, but this boy was different, he was a conundrum. He was shy, nervous, strong but weak; he was the only Nephilim he had come across, apart from Will Herondale, which had ever treated a Downworlder with such sincerity. It confused Magnus when he thought about the Lightwood generations, Alec was of his own blood line, not exactly fitting in his family's pride, yet he was there.

The rune on Magnus's palm began to flash, he felt his body being dragged down, pain seared through his veins. His hands were patchy and pink; his skin was blazing and stinging. Magnus knew Alec had done something to himself, instead of running over to cure his angel's pain; he sat clenching his teeth, controlling the ebbing hot feeling on his hands. Magnus felt all of Alec's emotions, first his rune was a slight white colour, then after a while it shone an orange colour-anger, blue- sadness and depression and purple-guilt and regret. Oh, for Heaven's sake, this boy hurt Magnus so bad, and here he was, enjoying the overpowering emotions of his lover. One last gulp from the bottle and Magnus relieved himself of the pain, welcoming the darkness.


	4. Saving Souls and Sweet Gestures

To say Alec's head hurt when he'd woken up, would be an understatement.

His head killed and he was stumbling carelessly around his room. The burns and blisters were still burning, the pain had not disappeared. Alec stared at his reflection in the bathroom, his eyes were rimmed red and bloodshot, tears had dried on his cheeks, leaving behind a glistening trail. His lips were chapped and cut, blood dried on the sight of the puncture. Alec readied himself for a quick shower, cleansing all signs of last night off; he wrapped his hands in a bandage, thinking it would be better to heal the mundane way. As for his room, he left it like that, messy, he shut the door behind him, and no one would be able to enter apart from him. It was still too early for his siblings (who were light sleepers) to be awake. Having one cup of coffee, he headed into the training room, working against pain in his body, strengthening himself both emotionally and physically.

Three hours later, after relentless workout, he escaped the room, changing his sweaty soaked clothes, replacing them, and returning to the kitchen to make breakfast for Jace and Isabelle. They had not woken up yet, he didn't mind, he made several pancakes all set out the way his siblings enjoyed them and headed out of the Institute. The weapon's belt hung tightly on his waist; he had put on his gear -thick leather waistcoat and ordeal trousers- and walked around the town, demon sensor in hand.

Alec wondered here and there, no demons in sight, so being Alec; he went over to the bench in Central Park to sulk over last night's events. There was nothing else to do really, that is, until he saw the flash of a shadow from the corner of his eye. Darting forward, Alec sprinted after the demon, pulling his arrow in place, it took only one minute to reach his target, the Ravener demon was edging closer to a mundane, who was totally unaware of her surroundings. Demon talons were close to digging themselves in the girl if it weren't for his trusty arrow. The arrow seeped deep, right into the core of the Ravener's heart, the look on the girls face was pure shock.

Alec immediately forgot at that moment, he was not glamoured, looking back at the girl, she was not surprised anymore, nor was there any fear in her eyes. Alec stepped towards her, at first the girl was unsure, and she stood silent and frozen. Alec's eyes raked the girl; her clothing was torn at her knees and blood poured out of the gash that was situated there. There was also a deep cut at her elbow; it was limp and bent in an awkward position.

She smiled once, before doubling over, Alec caught her, as his Shadowhunter reflexes were always in work. He checked for her pulse it was still there, beating rapidly, the scars were filled with a tiny bit of demon poison, if not removed quickly she would die. Runes did not work against a mundane, nor against demon blood, so there only one solution.

He would have to take her to Magnus's apartment.

Alec hailed for a cab, clutching the girl on his shoulder. She was beautiful. Rosy cheeks, blue eyes and hazel coloured hair. It was a perfect combination and Alec felt his heart beat faster than usual, he felt a weird attraction towards this girl. Unconscious, the girl trembled; her blouse was thin and did not insulate much heat, Alec, out of generosity, slipped his coat of and hung it on the girls shoulder. Immediately, she stopped shivering, her feathery strands tickled his face, and the girl unexpectedly snuggled into his chest.

It was such a sweet gesture, Alec blushed slightly, and he softly pulled a strand of hair out of her face and trailed his hands into her hair. The cabbie abruptly stopped the car at their destination. He wadded out cash, and lifted the girl in his arms. Outside Magnus' apartment, he wondered how he should do this, first he thought he'd barge into his house with the key he owned, but then thought differently. He fished out his phone from his pocket and dialed Magnus's number. Luckily, Magnus answered after only a few rings.


	5. Getting To Know You

"What do you want?" Magnus' voice was harsh; Alec did not care at that moment in time.

"I need your help. Open the door." He ringed the bell voluntarily.

"Why should I? Go home shadow hunter, you're not welcome."

"Open the door." Alec said again, with no emotion. "There's a problem." He added, knowing Magnus would give in. He heard a growl on the other end of the line, soon cutting off. Then he heard the buzzing of the door, and Alec stepped quickly into the building.

On top of the stairs, there was no one greeting him, like there normally was. Alec chose to ignore this and felt the girl's hand flutter softly at his chest. The front room was empty, no signs of change or a presence. Chairman strutted over to him, and Alec sighed sadly, he missed the small kitten. Alec laid the girl on the sofa, after all the blood on her was dry, so it wouldn't stain anything. For extra precautions, Alec had cut up and tied his sweater around the cuts, blocking anymore blood flowage. Gentle, Alec held the girl's hand, and sat on the floor, close to the girl for safety, and stared at her soundlessly. He was interrupted from his thoughts as he heard someone clear their throat behind him. He didn't jump at the sound, he was used to it, and he got up off the floor and gave space to Magnus who bent slightly over the girl. Magnus did not look up to him; he stared curiously at the girl, and Alec didn't let go of the girl's hand.

"What's wrong with her?" His voice was now a tad bit gentler.

Alec answered in a monotone voice. "She was attacked by a Ravener, there's some demon poison in her cuts."

Alec pointed to her leg and her elbow. Magnus hesitated at that second, not wanting to touch the blood covered material. Alec shot energy, he softly grasped the girl's leg, lifting it only slightly and removing the bandage, he did the same for her elbow. The cuts weren't too bad, a quick healing spell would fix it and maybe wearing bandage for two to three weeks would do her good. Magnus got away with his work, silent, he asked Alec to grab his medicine box. Alec tried to remove his hand from the girl's, but she held her grasp, Alec had to pry his hands off her. Retrieving a bandage and some scissors from the box he returned to the room. Magnus was already done; he turned his head slightly, and glanced to Alec, which he did not glance back to. Hastily, Magnus got up from the seat and Alec replaced it. Tenderly, he wrapped the bandage around the healed cuts, his hands were nimble and secure. After he was done, he went down to wrap the coat around the girl's body, securing the heat. He bent over the girl, gazing at her angel-like face. Her cheeks were pink and plump as her lips, she had sharp cheek bones, as him, and her hair was quite long, curled at the ends. The hazel tint reminded him of autumn, and the warm feeling of home. The girl, shifted a little and her eyes opened slowly, the bottle blue colour of them startled Alec and he gasped as he stared at a whole new type of beauty. This girl was Aphrodite.

Her body shot up and she was breathing raggedly, Alec was standing so close, and she tripped over his leg, they toppled to the floor. Her face was flushed, much as Alec thought his was, and she was lying on top of him. Her breath slowed down by seconds and it was sweet against his cheek. A small, bashful smile grew at her lips and Alec swiped her bangs out of her eyes, she leaned into the touch. She sat up, not noticing where she was. Alec glanced down, to his legs and looked back to the girl, her eyes followed his movement and she blushed in realization, she was sitting on his groin. She quickly stumbled to her feet, and Alec missed the closeness of her body. Long, thin fingers thrust forward; Alec grabbed those pearly hands and lifted himself to his feet. The girl took a step forward and tripped; she was limping and was not able to stand properly. She fell into Alec's open arms; he let her lean against his body, and sat her onto the sofa in a seated position. She looked at Alec silently, and she leaned forward a little.

"Thank you for saving me." Her voice sounded sweet and like caramel, smooth. Alec flustered.

"No problem." He answered in an equally soft tone. Silence engulfed the two, Alec felt awkward for a second. "My name's Alexander, but I prefer Alec." He thrust his hand forward, she shakes it voluntarily.

"Alec. Alexander sounds so much better on you."

Alec loved the way the name rolled off her tongue, he didn't like it when people called him his full name. It filled him with hatred, he never did live up to the name, and he had only liked it when Magnus said it. But it sounded so much better coming of Baeliss.

"Baeliss." She answered, her name sounded precious.

They chattered away quietly for a few minutes. Alec liked this girl, they both liked to read, she had some skill for archery, like himself. She had went to a mundane's summer camp and had learnt a little over there. She told Alec the basics of her life, how her parents had died, and her aunt took her in. Alec chose not to tell her about himself, not just yet, it would be too overwhelming.

Alec understood that Magnus was not going to return, so Alec took out his wallet and Magnus' keys, he placed all of his money from his wallet and put it on the table alongside the key. He had given the warlock two hundred dollars, that is all he had on him, and even that was not enough for what he did for the Baeliss. Alec thought no more about it. Baeliss shivered slightly, wrapping her slender tan arms around herself.

"You're cold." Alec said to no one.

"A little." She answered quietly, as if it were a sin to speak loudly.

Alec thought no more about it, he removed Magnus's scarf from the pocket in his coat, and wrapped it around her neck. His fingers brushed the tender skin and they both visible shivered. When he pulled Baeliss on her feet she began to walk a little, and stumbled on her weak leg, Alec became more cautious around her. He caught her in his arms, preventing her from falling, and she smiled, grateful. Alec looked straight into her eyes, her hot breath mingled with his own. Then it didn't, he looked down, and saw that she had fallen unconscious. Alec fell back onto the couch, hand on her forehead, the temperature had risen just a little. There was no use in awakening her, so Alec resulted into lifting her, bridal-style, he avoided her wounds cautiously. He hailed a cab and placed her against his lap for the rest of the journey, Alec chose it would be better to take her to the Institute, until she got better.


End file.
